Rabat – Young people are increasingly citing concerns over climate change and COVID-19 when deciding not to have children. Investment bank Morgan Stanley released its analysis on declining birth rates in the face of climate change, while the US National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau has outlined how COVID-19 is impacting fertility rates.
Climate concerns
Morgan Stanley, in its note to investors this month, concluded that climate change concerns are impacting young couples’ decision to have children. Not only do young people see possible climate threats as a reason, they see not having children as a way to reduce their carbon emissions.
Morgan Stanley’s analysts concluded that “having a child is 7-times worse for the climate in CO2 emissions annually than the next 10 most discussed mitigants that individuals can do.” As such, young people see not having children as a way to be part of the solution in regards to ever more apocalyptic warnings and pleas by the world’s foremost scientific institutions and experts.
US broadcaster CNBC published reporting on the Morgan Stanley findings, quoting one young potential parent as saying “over the last few years, the climate has definitely been a major contributor to us not wanting children.”
Young people fear for their potential children’s future amid growing mental health concerns caused by the combined crises in global public health and the climate crisis.
Impact of COVID-19
A study by the US National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau has revealed that symptoms of depression and anxiety have risen at an alarming rate since the start of the pandemic. The current rates of mental health issues among the population are over three times that in July 2019, and decision-making for the future is impacted by this trend.
While feelings of depression are quite natural, given the worrying context in not just the pandemic but economic trends in an increasingly tumultuous world, the current feelings of despair are impacting future generations.
Anti-COVID-19 measures have made it difficult for people to date and meet new people, economic outlooks have become more uncertain and fears of COVID-19 infection continue to dominate how people see the world, and what decision they make accordingly.
A reluctance to have children can even cause further mental health issues as religious or family pressures on the matter can create further tension for young people.
Meanwhile birth rates are at a record low in the US and in a steady decline in many other countries across the world.
Global trends
With the livelihoods, health and mental state of many people in doubt, recent developments regarding COVID-19 and the climate crisis are only accelerating a growing decline in birth rates, especially in developed nations.
Increasing opportunities for young women through education and family planning is allowing a new generation to have children as a choice instead of an obligation. In developing nations, increased female participation in the workforce and education is showing a marked decline in birth rates.
After a century of unprecedented human population growth, at the expense of natural resources and ecological balance, declining birth rates could be a blessing in disguise. While not having children does little to reduce carbon emissions in the crucial coming decade, it means less mouths to feed amid predictions of global droughts.
Throughout history when populations saw a decrease through some dramatic event, like the black plague in medieval Europe, people often saw an increase in their living standards. Wages rise as supply and demand changes in the workforce, housing becomes cheaper and carbon emissions drop.
Having fewer children appears to be a long-term solution against some of the world’s biggest problems, but it requires a species to combat the instinct to reproduce. For half a century humanity’s population has grown beyond all expectations, the coming decades appear to be a moment of rebalancing such growth to account for the reality around us.
